Press Releases

July 22, 2020 (Washington, D.C.) – The House of Representatives today passed the No Ban Act, legislation to overturn President Trump’s executive order banning persons from certain countries from traveling or immigrating to the United States. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), a co-lead on the bill who introduced legislation to stop Trump’s Muslim Ban after witnessing chaos and turmoil at Dulles Airport created by the ban in January of 2017, spoke in favor of the legislation during debate:
 
[Remarks as delivered]
 
“Madam Speaker, I rise in support of [Congresswoman] Judy Chu’s NO BAN Act.
 
“In the words of John Lewis – ‘When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to do something.’
 
“The NO BAN Act is doing something.
 
“It is stating in clear, powerful legislation that America will never again let racism or religious intolerance be a barrier to lawful immigration.
 
“We will not allow ignorance or xenophobia to dictate America’s immigration policies. Our strength has always – always – been our diversity.
 
“A functional Muslim ban or a ban of entire countries simply because they comprise a race or a religion that some president does not like – is not just evil, it is stupid.
 
“Watch which American communities recover most quickly from the pandemic: those with the most diverse populations.
 
“I stand here today, as I stood at [Dulles] Airport at the onset of the ban, to ensure our immigration system cannot be hijacked by hatred.
 
“I yield back.”
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